A closer look at laser facials: an A-list beauty secret

They
are the latest anti-ageing weapon and a favourite with the likes of Jennifer Aniston.
HELLO! Beauty Editor Nadine Baggott gives us the lowdown on laser facials.

She
has one of the best complexions in Hollywood and along with good diet, plenty
of sleep and lots of water, Jennifer Aniston reveals she also has a skincare
secret weapon: anti-ageing laser treatments. "I love lasers," the
actress said in an interview last year. At 47, the former Friends star looks as good as she did in her 30s, so she
clearly knows her stuff.

Jennifer
is just one of a number of stars who have rejected extreme plastic surgery and
visible face-freezing and plumping injectables, turning instead to "little
and often" minimally invasive work aimed at stopping the clock, rather
than completely reversing it.

It
is not just a US phenomenon. Debbie Thomas, a London-based laser facialist
whose client list includes Jourdan Dunn, Donna Air and Poppy Delevingne, says
laser treatments are becoming part of the beauty regimes of many British people
in the public eye. "It's what all my clients do – what most of the famous
faces you see who seem to remain ageless and without any signs of obvious work
do," she says.

This
is not a facial in the traditional sense – we are not talking everyday cleanse,
tone, moisturise and massage. A laser facial is an hour of lightweight acid
peels, skin-tightening longwave lasers, then fraxelated skin ablation (taking
away the top layer to speed up cell turnover, helping to remove age spots and
fine lines and, eventually, tighten skin). It may even involve lasering the
inside of your mouth to tighten your cheeks. Definitely not for the
faint-hearted; as Debbie says: "I don't do namby pamby."

"Most
of my clients do not want a lot of downtime, so instead they opt to see me once
a month for six or eight months, which allows me to do less-invasive treatments,"
says Debbie. "Many like the results so much they simply book in every
single month for maintenance. And trust me, they want visible results. Many are
in the public eye, being scrutinised in pictures and on TV, so they have to
look their best."

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